First pitch for the final SDHSBA Class A state quarterfinal between No. 2 Brandon Valley and No. 7 O’Gorman was at 9:46 p.m. thanks to a delay to start the day and some long games before.
The final out was recorded at 12:10 a.m. on Saturday, May 23, with Brandon Valley coming out on top 10-7. In between, chaos ensued.
The Lynx, the defending state champions, will play No. 3 Sioux Falls Jefferson in a rematch of the 2025 state title game at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, May 23 at Ronken Field.
Jack Blomgren gave Brandon Valley the lead for good in the bottom of the sixth with a two-out RBI single to plate Grady Gindorff to make it 8-7. Maxwell Peters followed with an RBI double to plate Blomgren, then Peters scored on a Bryton Stroh ground ball that was thrown away.
“I was kind of worried there for a little bit, but our team’s always pulled through,” Blomgren said. “I had confidence in my team and confidence in myself, and we got it done.”
O’Gorman made one last gasp, with Bennett Duncan and Joey Laible each drawing a walk to get the tying run to the plate with two outs. Stroh got Landon Nohrenberg to ground out to end the threat.
Brandon Valley got off to a 4-0 lead through two innings without recording a hit. Duncan got the start for the Knights, walking six, hitting a batter and uncorking a wild pitch in the first two frames. He settled in to get through 4.1 innings, allowing seven runs, four earned, on two hits and seven walks with five strikeouts.
O’Gorman responded with the game’s first hits in the top of the fourth, putting together a five-run frame for the lead. Duncan recorded a two-run single, Laible hit a sacrifice fly, Isaac Tobin recorded an RBI on a ground out and Colin Boyle singled home a run.
That lead held until Stroh singled home a run and Ryan Fenton knocked in two with a base hit to take a 7-5 lead in the bottom of the fifth.
The Knights answered yet again in the next half inning. Paxton Sohn drew a bases-loaded walk, then Talec Schlimgen was hit by a pitch with the pillows packed. O’Gorman had a chance to take a lead, but Parker Scheidt was tagged out by a diving Mason Veld after Blomgren uncorked a wild pitch.
This was a rematch of a back-and-forth game in last year’s state quarterfinals, and the Lynx and Knights delivered with another instant classic.
“We always find a way to get hot around the end of the year,” Blomgren said. “We’ve got a really good team and we’re doing it together. We’ve got a bunch of good guys.”
Brandon Valley used five pitchers in the game. Caleb Severin started and allowed five runs on four hits and a walk with three strikeouts in three innings. Taylor Melby gave up a hit and a walk with two strikeouts in 1.1 frames. Luke Felderman also went 1.1 innings, giving up two runs on a hit and a walk with two strikeouts. Blomgren got one out, walking three and hitting a batter. Stroh then got the save, walking a batter in an inning of work.
“It helps when our offense had their back,” Brandon Valley head coach Jeremy VanHeel said. “We continued to find ways to score. Jack maybe didn’t have it on the mound, but he came up with a big hit. Those timely things help.”
Blomgren led the Lynx’s offense with two hits, two walks, two RBIs and two runs scored. Peters doubled, drew a walk, drove in two runs and scored twice, Fenton singled and drove in two runs, Stroh singled and knocked one in, Gindorff singled, walked and scored twice, Brayden Knutson walked, was hit and scored twice and Bryce Plucker and Cooper Veld each walked and scored.
Rylan Cody threw the final 1.2 innings for O’Gorman, giving up three runs, two earned, on four hits with three strikeouts.
Duncan singled, walked and drove in two, Schlimgen doubled, wore a pitch, walked, drove in a run and scored once, Sohn singled, walked, had an RBI and scored a run, Gavin Hammrich singled and scored twice, Boyle singled and drove in a run, Laible walked and drove in a run, Alex McKinney and Nohrenberg each walked and scored, Tobin drove in a run, Sam Donohue singled and Scheidt drew a walk.
The time the game was played added to the crazy nature of the play. The players were at a field staying reach most of the day, but VanHeel made sure his guys were ready to get after it once the first pitch was thrown.
“It comes with it,” VanHeel said. “We talk about being in the moment. Pressure is a privilege, and understanding that not everybody gets this chance. We’re here, we’re going to do everything we can to continue to be here.”
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Brandon Valley baseball outlasts O’Gorman in SDHSBA Class A quarters